Just Dance 2016 is the latest in a long line of silly and colorful dancing games by Ubisoft. Despite cosmetic similarities, the games are all a bit different. Each Just Dance installment has a couple of new features that make it different from the ones that came before.

In Just Dance 2016, you’ll be able to use your smartphone as a motion controller, just as in the 2014 online game Just Dance Now. This change means that the game will be much more accessible to players who don’t own equipment like the Kinect or PlayStation Move. What’s more, the game can now accommodate up to six players.

This installment also introduces a few new game modes. With the mode Showtime, you’ll be able to record videos of yourself lip-syncing. You can then add special effects and share your videos online. You’ll need to have a camera peripheral for this mode to work, though. In Dance Party mode, you can dance with friends either competitively or cooperatively. This is the first co-op mode to exist in a Just Dance game, meaning you get to work together to earn points instead of fighting with one another. And with Dance Quests, players can actually “beat” a Just Dance game for the first time by completing a series of dance challenges.

Just Dance 2016 will also have a streaming music service called Just Dance Unlimited, as well as a World Video Challenge mode for sharing videos of your performance with the worldwide Just Dance community. You can also use World Video Challenge to challenge friends to beat your high scores.

Most of these features will be available only for players using current-gen consoles (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U).

The full track list for Just Dance 2016 was announced earlier, and it will include contemporary hits like “Uptown Funk” as well as older songs like “Copacabana” and “Hit the Road, Jack.” You can watch video previews for all of the tracks on Ubisoft’s website, or download a free demo of the game on Wii U, PS4, or Xbox One immediately, before the game’s release on October 20.


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Courtney is Pixelkin's Associate Managing Editor. While working with the Girl Scouts of Northern California, she mentored young girls in teamwork, leadership, personal responsibility, and safety. Today, she spends her time studying adolescent development and using literary analysis techniques to examine video games.Simone de Rochefort is a game journalist, writer, podcast host, and video producer who does a prolific amount of Stuff. You can find her on Twitter @doomquasar, and hear her weekly on tech podcast Rocket, as well as Pixelkin's Gaming With the Moms podcast. With Pixelkin she produces video content and devotes herself to Skylanders with terrifying abandon.